A majority of Canadians who have attended youth hockey games report having witnessed adult spectators hurling curse words and abuse at referees and players, according to a new poll by Angus Reid Institute.

“We hear the horror stories, but as far as we knew nobody had yet gone out to measure the prevalence of this,” said Shachi Kurl, senior vice-president of Angus Reid.

The survey targeted 686 adults who had attended a youth hockey game within the past year. Of those, 59% reported witnessing “inappropriate language and/or berating” directed against a referee, and 49% saw the behaviour directed at “the kids playing hockey.”

Earlier this year, B.C.’s Vancouver Island Amateur Hockey Association warned parents that they would ban spectators from games if parents continued to express “vindictiveness” to the league’s teenaged referees.

And just last month, a junior hockey game in Penticton, B.C. required police involvement after a parent pursued a referee into the rink parking lot and punched the official’s car.

According to the Angus Reid survey, the likelihood of witnessing abuse went up sharply among regular attendees of youth hockey.